Production of HTS Magnets from Lab Scale to Commercial Fusion Power Plants

The world needs a fundamentally new source of clean energy to meet our growing energy demands and combat climate change. This talk focuses on fusion energy and its potential as a commercial power source. After briefly introducing the advantages of fusion, plenary speaker Darby Dunn dives into the technology developed at Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS). CFS is building revolutionary high-temperature superconducting magnets developed in collaboration with MIT to build compact, net-positive energy devices called tokamaks.

Dunn covers the groundbreaking manufacturing and testing of CFS’s toroidal field model coil (the strongest fusion magnet in the world) and progress on SPARC, the world’s first commercially relevant net energy fusion machine. It also focuses on lessons learned and the scalability of the manufacturing processes, supply chain, and construction for commercial fusion power plants worldwide.

Darby Dunn is the Vice President of Production at Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a clean energy startup based in Devens, MA, where she is responsible for the company’s day-to-day operations, including manufacturing and facilities. Supported by the world’s leading investors and a collaborative partnership with MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, the CFS team is driven by the climate change crisis to develop the fastest path to commercial fusion energy. In her previous role as Head of Manufacturing, Darby led the production of the world’s largest high-temperature superconducting magnet, successfully demonstrating the key technology needed to enable net-positive fusion energy.

Before joining the CFS team in early 2019, Darby spent a decade at SpaceX developing and manufacturing the Dragon spacecraft to deliver cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station. Darby also co-founded the LGBTQ employee interest groups at both SpaceX & CFS. She is actively involved in STEM outreach events, including sitting on the Board of Directors for Out For Undergrad. She was also named to Business Insider’s list of the Most Powerful Female Engineers of 2017 and the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders in 2018. Darby received her B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.